Employees ratify new contract with Wegmans Food Markets

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. announced Thursday evening its Rochester-based distribution and transportation employees, represented by Teamsters Local 118, voted in favor of the chain’s contract proposal.

The contract, originally agreed to by the company and the Teamsters on Oct. 12, had been rejected by the union members late last month.

Teamsters Local Union 118 represents more than 900 warehouse workers, drivers and other skilled trades at Wegmans. Both sides met with a federal mediator this week.

The most-critical issue debated during the nine-month negotiations was Wegmans’ proposal to withdraw from the critically underfunded New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund and transition this group to the Wegmans Retirement Plan, which covers all other eligible Wegmans employees, including another Teamsters group, the company said.

The contract includes an immediate $1,000 lump sum payment for full-time employees ($500 for part-time); an 18 percent pay increase over the life of the six-year contract; a move to Wegmans fully funded retirement plan; and a package of retirement assistance options valued at more than $10 million, the company said.

Wegmans immediately will provide notice of its withdrawal from the Teamsters Fund, and expects to commence withdrawal liability payments to the fund soon. The final withdrawal liability has not been determined, but it is expected to exceed $135 million and will help preserve the benefits already due its employees from the Teamsters Fund.